Lost without you

Dear Friends in Christ -

"Your pastoral leaders and your churches would be lost without you."

When I read this, the first line of an article, "A Word for Lay Christians," I knew I had to keep reading. It's true. I would be lost without YOU. Nothing at St. Paul's happens without YOU. Do you know that? Do you believe it?

Do you know that I can't even do communion without you? If I'm the only person who shows up, I can't set a "table for one" and bless the bread and wine for myself.

I hope you'll read the following three paragraphs. I hope it makes you feel important and special and needed. Because you are.

Blessings,
Janet+

A Word for Lay Christians
by Wesley J. Wildman and Stephen Chapin Garner

Your pastoral leaders and your churches would be lost without you. Without you there is no community. Without you "Jesus" is an empty word rattling about in the corridors of history. Without you the church is a lifeless shell. The measure of the church's success is directly related to how you, the lay members of your community, love one another and live out your faith in your daily lives.

Remember that Jesus's call was not to a bunch of ordained clergy. Jesus called fishermen, businessmen, hated tax collectors, feared soldiers, mothers, widows, prostitutes, the able-bodied, the infirm, people with faith, and people without faith. Jesus's call was for everyone to follow him. You have as much right to follow Jesus as anyone else. Your pastor, your church council, your bishop, your church boards do not have a higher claim on Jesus than you do. So take your role in the church and in the world very seriously.

What does that involve? Love, tend to, and work to strengthen your pastor, your church, and your church leadership. Help your community to keep its focus. When you sense that something is amiss, speak up and make your case lovingly. Too often when the going gets tough, lay people get going and hightail it right out of church. Church is messy, community is messy, life is messy. You can't get in the habit of running from it because the mess will follow you until you deal with it. Remember, the church is yours and you are the church. Stick with the body of Christ in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow as long as you live.